Kanwar Yatra: Supreme Court extends interim stay on directives issued by UP, Uttarakhand, MP on eateries
New Delhi, August 5
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the interim stay on orders of the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display names of their owners and employees.
A Bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice R Mahadevan extended the July 22 interim order as it could not take up the matter due to paucity of time.
Kanwar Yatra is undertaken by lakhs of devotees of Lord Shiva during the Shravan month of Hindu calendar every year. This year, the yatra began on July 22 and will end on August 19.
When a lawyer requested the Bench for an early hearing, it didn’t specify any date and simply said a date will be given.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has defended its directive requiring eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of their owners and staff, saying the idea was to bring in transparency, avoid “potential confusion” and ensure a peaceful yatra.
“We deem it appropriate to pass an interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the above directives. In other words, the food sellers, hawkers etc. may be required to display the kind of food they are serving to Kanwariyas but they must not be forced to disclose the names of owners and staff employed,” the Bench had said on July 22, staying the UP Government’s order.
However, it had clarified on July 26 that there was no bar under its July 22 order on eateries voluntarily displaying owner or employee names during Kanwar Yatra.
Petitioners Association for Protection of Civil Rights, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Prof Apoorvanand Jha and others have moved the top court challenging the validity of the directive on the ground that went against secularism and was aimed at exclusion by identity.
In Madhya Pradesh, a similar circular had been allegedly issued by the BJP-ruled Ujjain Municipal Corporation which has directed the shop owners in the city to display their names and mobile numbers outside their establishments. Any violation of this order will attract a fine of Rs 2,000 for the first offence and Rs 5,000 if the order is defied for the second time, the Ujjain Municipal Corporation reportedly said.
